For more than six hours, the center of Tirana has been engulfed in violent clashes, with the police intervention against protesters becoming one of the most disturbing developments of the evening. Students, protesters and citizens have faced the intervention of the security forces, while images of people being beaten and dragged away by the officers have raised serious questions about the use of force by the police.
The protest began around 2:00 PM in front of the Ministry of Education and lasted for about an hour without incident. The situation became tense around 3:00 PM, when police intervened with rubber batons, tear gas, and water cannons after a group of protesters threw eggs, stones, Molotov cocktails, and other objects at the building, while anti-government slogans were written on the walls.
But the escalation of the protest was also accompanied by the intervention of the police forces, who are accused of having used violence against the participants in the rally. Reports of students and citizens being beaten by the officers also shift attention to the way the police managed the protest and whether force was used only against violent individuals or also against those who did not pose a threat.
Clashes continued throughout the evening on Durrës Street, where a group of protesters damaged public and private property, including ATMs. In one of the most serious incidents, protesters entered the premises of the financial institution “Iute Credit”, threw furniture onto the street and set themselves on fire.
The toll so far is 23 people arrested and 13 injured, including six police officers, two journalists, three protesters and two bystanders.
